kermode



No. 6l4,959. Patented Nov. 29, I898. J. J. KEBNIODE.

APPARATUS FOR BURNING LIQUID FUEL IN STEAM GENERATORS, 81.0.

(Application filed Dec. 20, 1897.)

(N0 Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet I.

No. 6I4,959. Patented Nov. 29, I898. J. J. KERMODE.

APPARATUS FOR BURNING LIQUID FUEL IN STEAM GENERATORS,.&G.

(Application filed Dec. 20, 1897.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

n45 Nunms PETERS no, vuoraumu. wAsnmm-w, n cy No. 6I4,959.

Patented Nov. 29, I898. J. J. KERMODE.

APPARATUS FOR BURNING LIUUID FUEL IN STEAM GENERATORS, &c.

(Application filed Dec. 20, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

m: NDRRIS Pl-Trsns c6. PHoTauruu. WASNKNGTCN. n c

NITED STATES JOIIN JONATHAN KERMODE, OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR BURNING LIQUID FUEL IN STEAM-GENERATORS, &c.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,959, dated November 29, 1898. Application filed December 20, 1897. Serial No. 662,624. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN JONATHAN KER- MODE, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing in Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Apparatus for Burning Liquid Fuel in Steam- Generators and the Like, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 11,760, bearing date June 18, 1894,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus forburning liquid fuel in steam-generators and the like; and the objects are to provide a body of asbestos or other refractory material adapted to be heated to incandescence by the burning of the fuel and to act as a reservoir for the heat; to provide for the burning of heavy hydrocarbons, such as tar, waste oil, &c.; to adapt the apparatus to the furnaces of the generator, so that it and ordinary furnacebars for burning coal may be conveniently interchanged, and generally to improve the details and cheapen the construction of such apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures I and II illustrate my invention applied to a ma rine boiler, Fig. I being an end elevation, partly in section, and Fig. II a longitudinal section on the line A A of Fig. I. Fig. III is a detail view showing one of the gratings resting upon the trunk, which latter is shown in section. Fig. IV is a plan view of a couple of the gratings, showing only a portion of the trunk. Fig. V is an edge view of the gratings. Figs. VI and VII are respectively a plan view, partly in section, and a central vertical section of the trunk.

In Fig. I the front plate of the extreme righthand furnace, together with its nozzles and pipes, is removed to more clearly show the construction, and in the extreme left-hand furnace the front plate, racks, &c., have also been removed and the air-trunk therein shown in section on the line B B of Fig. II.

In Fig. II the only furnace shown is the one through which the plane of section passes, and in both figures only so much of the boiler is shown as is necessary to indicate the arrangement of the apparatus.

The apparatus may be roughly divided into two portions, that adapted to burn the ordi nary light oils heretofore used for this purpose and that adapted to burn, in conjunction with the former, heavy oils, tar, &o. Referring in the first instance to the former, the combustion of the oil is effected by forcing it and the air necessary to support combustion through combined air-and-oil nozzles 1, the air and oil being heated before reaching the nozzles. IVhen such nozzles alone are relied upon for burning the oil, it is found that in consequence of the temporary stoppage of the supply and from other causes the flame frequently goes out and considerable difficulty, often attended with personal risk, is experienced in relighting the oil. The sudden fall of temperature and waste of oil consequent upon the extinction of the flame are of course also exceedingly objectionable. In order to remedy these defects, I provide a body of asbestos or other refractory material 2, carried, preferably, in a series of parallel racks or gratings 3. In configuration these latter somewhat resemble a toast rack and are adapted to support the asbestos in the furnace of the generator in the position usually occupied under ordinary conditions by the fire and extending therefore from the furnace-door to the bridge. This body of asbestos is so shaped and the nozzles are so disposed that the flames impinge on the asbestos and heat it to incandescence, their heating effect being thereby rendered much more uniform ,and the body of asbestos thus heated to incandescence retains its heat for a considerable time in case of temporary stoppage of the supply and maintains an even heat even though there be fluctuations or variations in the flames from the nozzles.

The air to supply the nozzles is heated in the first instance in the uptake by the waste furnace-gases and is then led through suitable air-pipes 4 to an air-trunk 5, whose configuration in plan is a rectangle whose long sides are adjacent to and parallel with the sides of the furnace of the generator. The trunk is supported on suitable angle-iron brackets 6, attached to the furnace, and it is adapted to carry the gratings or racks 3, supporting the asbestos. The pipe 7 through which the oil is supplied to the nozzles, is led through the air-trunk, and the latter is attached to a circular plate 8, adapted to close the front end of the furnace and to carry the nozzles when they are placed in front. In this way the arrangement as a whole is easily inserted in or removed from the furnace.

The arrangement for burning heavier oils, in conjunction with the apparatus described, consists of a container 9, placed underneath the asbestos on the bottom of the furnace. \Vhen the heavy oil is of such a nature as to flow up a wick by capillary action, the container is adapted to support asbestos wicks 10. The container 9 may consist of a light angle-iron frame, as shown in the right-hand furnace of Fig. I, raised above the furnaceplate by distance-pieces, so that any oil which may pass uneonsumed through the nozzles can enter the container and feed the wicks. The container and its wicks also serve for the employment of oil to be burned to initially heat the main body of asbestos to incandescence.

IVhen a heavy oil or tar is used, a shallow vessel 11 is placed in the container 9 instead of the wicks.

Openings, such as 12, may be provided in the front plate 8 to permit the ingress of additional air, either induced or forced, to supportcombustion.

IVhen raising steam, a hand-pump may be employed to feed the oil.

Referring now to the detail views, Figs. III, IV, and V illustrate the construction and mode of supporting the racks 3, the views being respectively an elevation, plan, and end view, and Figs. VI and VII are respectively an elevation and a plan of the air-trunk.

Referring to Figs. III, IV, and V, it will be seen that the racks are cast in pairs united together by cross-bars, as shown, and the space between each pair thus connected is packed with asbestos or other refractory material. The pairs of racks rest on the lug 13 of the air-trunk, and they are kept in position by the distance-pieces 14, which abut when the racks are in position; or, if preferred, they may be tied together by a bar passing through the racks from end to end, or in some cases the feet of the racks may rest on top of the air-trunk and be bolted thereon. In the figures one connected pair of racks is shown and portions of the two adjacent pairs. The racks may of course be cast separately, if preferred. The shape of these racks depends, of course, upon the location of the nozzles, whether at the front or at the sides of the furnace. IVhen circumstances permit, the latter arrangement is to be preferred.

The construction of the air-trunk will be understood from Figs. VI and VII. The air enters the trunk by the main air-pipe & and is caused by the division-plate 15 to pass around the air-trunk and thence to the nozzles 1 by the branch air-pipes 4. In the construction shown the front end of the air-trunk is made integral with the front plate 8, and the remaining part of the trunk is bolted to the front plate, as shown. The interior of the front end communicates with the rest of the trunk through openings in the front plate. The oil-supply pipe 7 is led through the airtrunk, as shown, so that the oil is heated on its way to the nozzles. The air-trunk is carried by the angle-irons 6, and it is adapted, as described, to be easily removed from the furnace should it be desired at any time to substitute the ordinary furnace-bars, &c., to burn coal instead of oil. The nozzles may be of any of the suitable types at present in use for this purpose, from which a combined jet of air and oil issues from concentric openings, provision being made, as in an injector, for regulating the area of the respective openings, and the nozzles may, as stated, be placed in front of and above the refractory material or, as shown by dotted lines at 1', below the refractory material, or, where circumstances permit, they may be arranged laterally.

The action of the apparatus is as follows: Supposing that steam is to be raised in the first instance, the refractory material is incandesced by the combustion of oil in the containers below, after which the nozzles are put into operation, the oil being fed, if necessary, by a hand-pump. \Vhen the boiler is under steam, the arrangement described for feeding the oil is put into operation and the air is led to the air-compressor from a heatingchamber in the uptake. After passing through the automatic oil-feeding apparatus the air is then led to the air-trunk, where it is heated, and thence to the nozzles. The heated oil and air issue from the nozzles, and the flame which results is directed onto the refractory materiahwhich is maintained in incandescence thereby, and any oil which may pass through the nozzles uneonsumed is collected in the containers below the refractory material and there burned.

Although I have described the apparatus as applied to a marine boiler, it is evident that it is equally applicable to other forms of boilers, the details being of course modified to suit the special configuration of the boiler to which the apparatus is applied.

Having now fully described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with the furnace of a steam-generator, the air-and-oil nozzles, the means for supplying air and oil thereto, the air-trunk in the furnace adapted to heat the air and oil, and the refractory material carried in a series of racks supported by the said air -trunk; substantially as described and illustrated.

2. In combination with the furnace of a steam-generator, the nozzles and their connecting-pipes arranged on a front plate, the air-trunk. attached to the said front plate, and the refractory material carried in racks supported by the said trunk; the nozzles, the airtrunk and racks with the refractory material forming a self-contained structure adapted tance-pieces adapted to maintain the pairs of racks in proper relative position; substantially as described and illustrated.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN JONATHAN KERMODE.

Vitnesses:

J. E. LLOYD BARNES, JOSEPH E. H Rsr. 

